In one of my classes today I wished that the professor* leading our discussion was a student in our Philosophy of Teaching, Learning, and Knowing class. He said some things about Plato that I didn't agree with. (I.e. he told us that Plato believed art and poetry are merely copies of copies, and thus they are far removed from Truth.) He brought this up simply in comparison to our discussion topic, so I didn't want to correct him because it would slow down the class discussion, which would be disrespectful to my fellow students. I also thought that I should respect his position as teacher by acknowledging that he may have had some purpose for simplifying Plato that I do not comprehend. I think that excessive nit-picking is disrespectful anyway. What he said about Plato wasn't heinously wrong, though I think he over-simplified. Regardless, I felt that his comparison between Plato and our discussion topic was legitimate, for our purposes, so I kept mum on the subject.... until now.
Should teacher-student relationships include the possibility of remonstration? And if they should, how and when should it be done?
Walk in Beauty ~ Lisa
*Author's Note: I avoided mentioning the name of the professor, class, and subject matter on purpose.
Tough question. I have one older student who feels the need to correct me about *every*thing, and it drives me nuts -- especially because he's often wrong, speaking from rumors or urban legends or things he's partially overheard.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do encourage my students to share when they know something, I have sometimes asked them to wait until after I've presented entirely. It's easy to derail a class of seven preteens, and if a student's input is questionable, I don't want the misinformation to be the part the students remember.
Since you've read books IX and X of Republic, you know that Socrates does make an argument of precisely that sort. The problem, then, is a very nuanced one of interpretation -- what precisely is the relationship between what Plato thinks and what his character Socrates says? The tradition has tended in general to ignore the problem, and assume that Socrates' statements represent Plato's views (though we are all now acutely aware of the difficulties with that at assumption). Thus your teacher was justified as a matter of standard received interpretation in presenting this as Plato's opinion.
ReplyDeleteUnder the circumstances, I think you made a good call in not objecting in class, since problematizing the received tradition of interpreting Plato is not something you can do in a sentence or two, and would no doubt have deflected the topic in hand. You might want to meet with the professor, though, to discuss the matter.
Warning: Anecdote!
ReplyDeleteI made a similar complaint in an undergraduate class once, managing to annoy the professor and muddle up the relatively small point he was trying to make (I lacked Lisa's admirable restraint). He later complained in a departmental meeting to the professor who had taught me to read Plato this way (whose name is Bob Horn), teasingly accusing him of infecting his students with "Hornian" interpretations of the dialogues. Bob replied calmly: "You mean 'Platonist,' don't you?"
Thanks for sharing. I love a good story. :)
ReplyDeleteWell coincidentally enough that brings up something I discovered in my Religion and Ethics class. Of all the major world religions, Judaism is the only one that actually has a concept of debating with God and winning. Chutzpah, which you may have heard used facetiously previously. It is used in the story of Job demanded an account of his torment, or Abraham negotiating for the lives of the people of Sodom. Although faith in the will of God is encouraged, one must pursue mercy and justice over all. The path to God is a two-way street, with both parties having rights and responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that this is similar to the relationship between students and teachers (not to deify educators, but run with the analogy) in that although in most cases we have to assume the people in the front of the class wouldn't be there if they didn't know what they were talking about, part of our minds must remain skeptical enough to be able to bring up concerns if they are genuine, pertinent, and for the greater good.
Pardon for the length!
Thanks for not deifying me. I'd make a lousy god.
ReplyDelete